Terry Pegula has more cash on hand after $1.75 billion sale of oil acreage

By Tim Graham

Updated 5:54 PM , June 11, 2014

We still don't know if Terry Pegula is interested in buying the Buffalo Bills.

But any doubts about Pegula having the wherewithal to pull it off probably evaporated Monday.

Pegula's liquidity is flowing strong after his East Resources Inc. and at least one other undisclosed company sold 75,000 acres of Utica and Marcellus Shale leases in West Virginia and Ohio for $1.75 billion.

"This does make him a much more formidable bidder if he chooses to move forward," a sports acquisitions expert told The Buffalo News on the condition of anonymity.

Forbes estimates Pegula's net worth at $3.3 billion.

Royal Dutch Shell purchased most of his East Resources' holdings for $4.7 billion in cash four years ago.

Pegula bought the Buffalo Sabres in 2011 and since has gotten into real-estate development, music production and NFL player representation.